One dog shot dead, another injured; neighbors differ on what happened

A golden retriever was shot dead and dachshund was injured after a dog fight on Golf Drive in Kresgeville. Neighbors Travis Serfass and Terry Kern have different versions about what happened.

By BETH BRELJEPocono Record Writer

A golden retriever was shot dead and dachshund was injured after a dog fight on Golf Drive in Kresgeville on July 24.

Neighbors Travis Serfass and Terry Kern have different versions about what happened. Here are their stories:

Travis SerfassTucker, 6, a golden retriever, was the constant companion of Serfass, 27. Serfass says he let Tucker out as usual, around 8:30 a.m.

“When I went out to get him, I called him and could not find him,” said Serfass. While searching for Tucker, he heard gunshots. Serfass continued to look for his dog, then called his parents who live nearby.

“He said ‘I just heard six shots and I can't find Tucker,'” said his mother, Tracy Serfass.

Travis, Tracy and her husband Robert Serfass met and walked over to the neighbor's driveway. The parents stood at the end of the driveway while Travis Serfass walked up and knocked on the door of Kern's home.

Serfass asked to speak with Kern. He was handed a cell phone. Kern was on the line.

“I asked if he had seen Tucker. He said, ‘Yeah, he's dead in my garden,'” Serfass recalled.

Serfass ran to the back of the house and found Tucker bloody and dead.

“It was completely unbelievable,” said Serfass. “I thought it couldn't be happening. No one has ever seen Tucker raise his lips or anything. He gets along with little dogs. There is no history of Tucker going in to the neighbor's yard. If so, no one ever said anything.”

In a later interview, Serfass contradicted that statement. Kern had complained about Tucker on his property in the past.

“Jail time seems right to me,” Serfass said. “It seems he just really wanted to kill Tucker because, for whatever reason, he just doesn't like me.”

Terry Kern“I was out in the garden pulling weeds. My dog was lying on the deck.” Max, a miniature dachshund started barking, ran off the deck, stood looking into the woods and then stopped barking.

“I assumed it was a deer. I continued pulling weeds,” said Kern.

In a moment, Kern heard the rustle of leaves. “I looked and the neighbor's dog had come out and started attacking my dog. It grabbed a hold of the back spine area, picked him off the ground and shook him like a rag doll.” Kern said Tucker lost his grip and Max flew about seven feet. When Max landed, Kern said Tucker attacked again,

“I took a tomato stake. I hit his dog to get it to stop attacking my dog and that did not do a thing. It did not faze his dog,” said Kern. He ran into the house and get a gun. “I was not about to get bit also.”

According to Kern, the larger dog attacked the smaller dog twice more.

“If I hadn't shot the dog, it would have torn my dog in half,” Kern said. He wrapped Max in a towel to control the bleeding and rushed to the veterinary office right after the shooting.

“I didn't have time to look at his dog. I didn't think my dog was going to make it.”

Max was in the animal hospital for four days. The dog suffered a tear in the abdominal wall, deep bite wounds and lacerations, Kern said.

“I have no idea what made the dog attack. This all occurred on my property. It was not even close to his property line,” said Kern.

According to Kern, it was the second time Tucker attacked Max. In 2004, a neighbor saw a similar incident in Kern's yard.

Kern said he complained about Tucker in his yard at least three times and confronted Serfass after the first attack.

Serfass paid half the vet bill for the 2004 injuries, but said he doubts the attack ever happened. “I gave him some money to get him top stop bothering me,” Serfass said.

The shooting is under investigation by Lehighton state police. No charges have been filed.